US Mint Bullion Coin Sales Rally in October

Demand for United States Mint bullion products again soared in October — even as gold and silver prices tumbled — with silver coin sales the strongest since January 2013 and gold coin sales the highest since January 2014.

A sales summary across U.S. Mint bullion products for last month and for the first ten months of this year follows.

American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins

American Silver Eagles surged by 5,790,000 coins last month, advancing 39.9% over September sales of 4,140,000 coins and hurdling the year ago level of 3,087,000 coins by 87.6%. October sales were the strongest since January 2013 when U.S. Mint authorized purchasers ordered 7,498,000. Overall, the month ranks fourth highest in the 99.9% pure silver coin’s 29-year history.

Year-to-date sales stand at 38,041,000 coins for the second quickest pace ever, and are down just 2.9% from the January to October 2013 period when sales reached 39,175,000 coins. Last year, American Silver Eagles hit an all-time record at 42,675,000 coins. This year’s Silver Eagle sales total is already higher than annual sales of all but 2 years since the coins debuted in 1986.

American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins

October sales of American Eagle gold coins rallied 67,500 ounces for the highest total since the 2014-dated versions launched in January. Orders last month rose 16.4% from sales of 58,000 ounces in September and climbed 39.2% from the 48,500 ounces sold in October 2013.

Although higher on the month than a year ago, demand last year was still stronger overall. American Gold Eagle sales in the January to October period total 446,500 ounces, down 40.7% from the 752,500 ounces sold during the first ten months of 2013.

22-karat American Gold Eagles are produced in sizes of 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz and 1/10 oz. These correspond to denominations on the coins of $50, $25, $10 and $5. All sizes gained in October for the second straight month.

American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins

24-karat American Buffalo gold coins surged 21,000 for a 44.8% increase over the previous month and the highest total since 41,500 sold when the 2014-dates versions debuted in January. Orders rose 16.7% from the same time last year.

Sales through the first ten months of 2014 total 160,500 coins for a 26.4% drop from a year earlier when orders reached 218,000 coins.

American Eagle Platinum Bullion Coins

On Oct. 1, the United States Mint stopped selling American Eagle platinum coins. The 99.95% pure Platinum Eagles rose 400 on the day, bringing their year-to-date total to 16,700 coins. Until this year, the bullion coins had not been issued since 2008. In that year, annual sales combined to 33,700 ounces across sizes of 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz and 1/10 oz. This year there is only the 1 oz size.

America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins

Lastly, orders of 2014 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins climbed 5,100 in October after rising 9,200 in September. Monthly and total sales for the 99.9% pure silver coins are:

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Five Ounce Silver Coins sold out at 33,000

Shenandoah National Park Five Ounce Silver Coins gained 900 to 22,400

Arches National Park Five Ounce Silver Coins stayed at 22,000

Great Sand Dunes National Park Five Ounce Silver Coins rose 4,200 to 16,200

Sales of 2014 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins totaled 93,600 or 468,000 ounces. That compares to 179,700 coins for 898,500 ounces through October of last year.

US Mint Bullion Sales by Product

Tables below offer U.S. Mint bullion sales by product. The first table lists October 2013 sales for comparison and then monthly sales between June and October of this year. The second table offers monthly sales figures between January and May. Totals are in the number of bullion coins sold, not in the amount of ounces.

June – October 2014 Sales of US Mint Bullion Coins
(# of coins)

Last Year Oct

Jun 2014

Jul 2014

Aug 2014

Sept 2014

Oct 2014

YTD Sales

$100 American Eagle Platinum Coins (1 oz)

N/A

700

0

700

2,700

400

16,700

$50 American Eagle Gold Coins (1 oz)

41,000

43,000

26,000

21,000

50,500

57,500

353,500

$25 American Eagle Gold Coins (1/2 oz)

3,000

2,000

0

0

5,000

6,000

38,000

$10 American Eagle Gold Coins (1/4 oz)

10,000

4,000

6,000

6,000

8,000

8,000

100,000

$5 American Eagle Gold Coins (1/10 oz)

35,000

35,000

25,000

25,000

30,000

50,000

490,000

$50 American Buffalo Gold Coins (1 oz)

18,000

16,000

5,500

8,000

14,500

21,000

160,500

ATB Silver Coins (5 oz)

6,600

21,400

2,000

9,200

9,800

5,100

93,600

American Silver Eagle Coins (1 oz)

3.087M

2.692M

1.975M

2.0075M

4.14M

5.79M

38.041M

January – May 2014 Sales of US Mint Bullion Coins
(# of coins)

Jan 2014

Feb 2014

Mar 2014

Apr 2014

May 2014

YTD Sales

$100 American Eagle Platinum Coins (1 oz)

N/A

N/A

10,000

1,200

1,000

16,700

$50 American Eagle Gold Coins (1 oz)

62,500

22,000

16,000

26,000

29,000

353,500

$25 American Eagle Gold Coins (1/2 oz)

12,000

3,000

2,000

5,000

3,000

38,000

$10 American Eagle Gold Coins (1/4 oz)

28,000

10,000

4,000

20,000

6,000

100,000

$5 American Eagle Gold Coins (1/10 oz)

160,000

50,000

30,000

50,000

35,000

490,000

$50 American Buffalo Gold Coins (1 oz)

41,500

12,000

12,000

17,500

12,500

160,500

ATB Silver Coins (5 oz)

0

0

12,400

10,600

23,100

93,600

American Silver Eagle Coins (1 oz)

4.755M

3.750M

5.354M

3.569M

3.9885M

38.041M

U.S. Mint bullion coins are sold in bulk to "Authorized Purchasers" who consist of major coin and precious metals dealers, brokerage companies, and other participating financial intermediaries. Bullion coins are usually priced at a few percentage points above the latest value of their precious metal content.

Sales of the 2014 KENNEDY ANNIVERSARY SILVER SET (K13) have reached 125,147. This is based on the cumulative sales report, as provided by the U.S. Mint, dated 11/02/2014.

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4 years ago

US Mint Sales Report Sources

The US Mint provides CoinNews.netweekly sales figures for its collector coin products. It is these reports that are used as the source for our articles on the subject. The bureau on its website also publishes updated bullion coin sales every weekday. These US Mint sales are presented in our daily gold articles.